Contributed photo by Amber Fortenberry / The East Brainerd Chamber Council is collecting items to furnish a "quiet room."The East Brainerd council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is working to help a school battle teacher burnout, a problem that's become increasingly worse during the pandemic.
Ninety percent of respondents in a National Education Association survey of educators conducted in January said they were experiencing burnout, and more than half plan to leave the profession sooner than they had planned to before the pandemic.
Since January 2020, 600,000 educators working in public education have left their jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To support the health and well-being of her staff, East Brainerd Elementary Principal Saunya Goss came up with an idea to create a room where teachers could go during breaks to relax and rejuvenate throughout the day. She shared her vision with members of the East Brainerd chamber council, who are collecting donations of furniture, books and decor through April 10 to outfit the space.
"Our teachers have many stressors, and we want to support them as they give their best to our students," Goss said by email. "We want the room to show that we value them and appreciate all the sacrifices they make daily."
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Amber Fortenberry, council president-elect, said members of her group plan to create a "quiet room" in a former classroom, with two separate seating areas, a coffee and tea bar, a yoga corner, a dining area and a "book cave" to serve as a free library of books teachers can take home.
"We just want to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to support our teachers and to make sure that their well-being is taken care of," Fortenberry said in a phone interview.
How to help
East Brainerd council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is requesting donations of gently used furniture and decorative items, including a console table or hutch, bookcases, lounge chairs and recliners, a full-size couch, coffee tables and end tables, lamps, and books. To coordinate pickup of large items, contact Amber Fortenberry ebequietroom@gmail.com. To purchase smaller items from the project’s Amazon wish list, search EBE Quiet Room and select “Custom Gift List” on Amazon.
The project also addresses the lack of community support that Hamilton County Education Association President Jeanette Omarkhail said many teachers cite as a factor contributing to burnout.
When people stayed home at the start of the pandemic, many parents experienced what it's like to teach their children and expressed their appreciation and respect for those who choose teaching as their profession, Omarkhail said.
"Now there's a lot of criticism instead of support that is being vocalized," she said. "It doesn't mean the community doesn't support teachers. It means the voices of support are being drowned out by the ones who have issues."
As spring break approaches, she said many teachers are deciding whether to return to the profession next year. She knows of some who have left, some who are struggling and several who took a leave of absence this year due to high stress levels.
Omarkhail said the school district isn't causing teacher burnout, but pressure from the state Department of Education for the students to perform on state assessments is a major factor in teacher stress.
"We're still trying to act as though everything is normal when we need to slow down and allow our children to catch up to where they need to be," she said. "We have to make sure every third grader is reading at third-grade level this year even though their learning was interrupted for two years, and that's unrealistic."
Teachers are constantly making sacrifices, such as giving up their planning time to supervise classrooms that lack substitutes, Omarkhail said.
"They're losing time with their families because they're having to take all their work home," she said. "It's wearing on them, and they don't feel like the pay is sufficient."
The Hamilton County school board has taken steps to address some pandemic-related issues affecting teachers, including voting in January to supplement pay for certified staff members who volunteer to cover classes for absent teachers.
Although local teachers are talking about leaving the profession, and some are - 210 have resigned so far this school year - many seem to be deciding to stay in their jobs.
Over the past six school years, an average of 247 certified teachers resigned each year, but the number of teachers who resigned each academic year since the pandemic began is actually less than average, with 232 resigning in 2019-20 and 242 stepping down in 2020-21, according to data provided by Hamilton County Schools communications officer Steve Doremus.
Those numbers do not include retirements or those in administrative positions, he said.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.